News Release

2011-03-11
Helena, MT--State legislatures saw an extreme shift in power after the November 2010 elections. More than 6,100 partisan legislative seats were up for election in 45 states, and at the end of the day, 794 (13 percent) had switched party hands. Of those seats that switched, 732 went to Republicans, 46 to Democrats, and 11 to third-party candidates.

The 2010 Party Control map, created by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, color-codes state house/assembly and senate districts by party, and also indicates if the seats changed party hands. Most of the takeover occurred in the House chambers, where 624 seats changed party hands. Republicans took 585 seats previously held by Democrats or third-party lawmakers. By comparison, just 30 seats changed to Democratic control, and 9 changed to third parties.

Senate chambers experienced similar changes, with 147 of the 1,146 seats changing to Republican control.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics collects and analyzes campaign contribution information on state-level candidates, political party committees, and ballot committees. Explore the free, searchable database of contributions online at FollowTheMoney.org.